Review of Steins;Gate 0

6/10

September 27, 2018

2 min read

12 reactions

To cut to the chase, I will just state my score: 6/10. I normally don't give 6/10 to anime unless I drop it mid-way, but I couldn't drop this one because it was Steins;Gate(OMG). Even though throughout the whole length of 24 episodes I was put into a cliffhanger only once (as far I can remember), my curiosity got the better of me. So why is it so low? The sound production and animation is so poorly done compared to season 1 and some other animes. Did they change their producer? (yes, the staff is different this time around) In this anime, they need to learnfrom Shaft with their Bakemonogatari series. More instantaneous cutscenes of the sky, a long shot of Mayuri standing by the rails. Something has to feel more magical. It's not just the art. the music needs better and more magical OSTs. That bassy electro sound with a slight horror feel with a catchy tune is missing. The OST has to make things more intense. Overall, the animation and background sound effects were not top-tier.

The animation feels like it was poorly prepared, and was created as if it was meeting a deadline, lacking inspiration.

In short, it feels like this anime was low on budget.

Now the plot. No twist midway in the anime. It's just one stagnant plot curve that slowly (very slowly!) goes up and ends there. The whole anime is like a filler to explain what happened between episode 23 and 24 of season 1. The problem is it shouldn't be like a filler. It should be its own stand-alone product that doesn't require season 1's sentiments and feelings - you know what I mean? It's 24 episodes of explaining. It's as if the anime is explaining to me, not entertaining me.

In short, the plot was mediocre.

I don't want to bash on Steins; Gate too much so some compliments:
It seems that this season did well in trying to incorporate all the routes from the game into the anime. This season has a happy ending and complements well for episode 23 and 24. Finally, I guess I finished the season with more love for the characters than I had before.